
Class. 
Book. 



PKKSKNTIilJ BY 



L'ALLEGRO. 



L'A L L E G R O. 



JOHN MILTON. 



ILLUSTP,A.TED WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS. 



PHILADELPHIA : 

J B. LIPPINOOTT COMPANY 

715 AND 717 MARKET STREET. 



-L \^^G^0 






Gift from 
Mrs. Etta F. Winter 
Sept. 20 1932 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Hence, loathed 3|elancholy 13 

Till the dappled dawn doth rise 15 

Come and trip it as you gi 

On the light fantastic toe 

Eight against the eastern gate, | 

Where the sun begins his state ) 

And at my window hid good-morrow 22 

The hounds and horn ) 

[ 23 

Cheerly rouse the slumbering morn ) 

And the milkmaid singeth blithe 25 

And every shepherd tells his tale ] 

Under the hawthorn in the dale | 

Shallow brooks, and rivers wide 28 



LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. 



PAGE 

Towers and battlements it sees ) 

I 29 

Bosom'd high in tufted trees ) 

Hard by a cottage chimney smokes 31 

And then in haste her bower she leaves 33 

And young and old come forth to pla_y 1 

On a sunshine holiday j 

Then to the spicy nut-brown ale 37 

And he by friar's lantern led 38 

How the drudging Goblin sweat ] 

To earn his cream-bowl duly set ) < 

Tower'd cities please us then 41 

Throngs of knights, and barons bold 42 

Sweetest Shakespeare, Fancy's child 43 

Lap me in soft Lydian airs 46 




L'ALLEGRO. 



TTENCE, loathed Melancholy, 
Of Cerberus and blackest Midnight born, 
In Stygian cave forlorn, 

'Mongst horrid shapes, and shrieks, and sights 
unholy ; 



Find out some uncouth cell, 

Where brooding Darkness spreads his jealous 

wings, 
And the night-raven sings; 

There, under ebon shades, and low-brow'd rocks, 
As ragged as thy locks. 
In dark Cimmerian desert ever dwell. 





^■^^-T-'y^ =""?^'^^---' 



But come, thou goddess fair and free, 



In heaven yelep'd Euphrosyne, 

15 




And by men, heart-easing Mirth, 
Whom lovely Yenus at a birth, 



With two sister Graces more, 

To ivy-crowned Bacchus bore; 

Or whether (as some sager sing) 

The frolic wind that breathes the spring, 

Zephyr with Aurora playing, 

As he met her once a-maying. 

There on beds of violets blue. 

And fresh-blown roses wash'd in dew, 

Fill'd her with thee a daughter fair, 

So buxom, blithe, and debonair. 



^^*«> . 




Haste thee, nympli, and bring with thee 
Jest, and youthful Jolhty, 
Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles, 
ISTods, and becks, and wreathed smiles, 
Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, 
And love to live on dimple sleek; 
Sport that wrinkled Care derides. 
And Laughter holding both his sides. 

18 



Come and trip it as you go 

On the light fantastic toe; 

And in thy right hand lead with thee 

The mountain-nymph, sweet Liberty : 

And, if I give thee honor due, 

Mirth, admit me of thy crew, 

To live with her, and live with thee. 

In unreproved pleasures free : 

To hear the lark begin his flight. 

And singing startle the dull night, 

From his watch-tow'r in the skies. 

Till the dappled dawn doth rise; 



Then to come, in spite of sorrow, 
And at ray window bid good-morrow. 




Through the sweetbrier, or the vine, 
Or the twisted eglantine ; 
While the cock with lively din 
Scatters the rear of darkness thin, 



And to the stack, or the barn door, 
Stoutly struts his dames before : 




Oft list'ning how the hounds and horn 
Cheerly rouse the slumbering morn, 



From the side of some hoar hill, 
Through the high wood echoing shrill : 
Sometimes walking not unseen 
By hedgerow elms, on hillocks green, 
Right against the eastern gate, 
Where the great sun begins his state. 
Robed in flames, and amber light. 
The clouds in thousand liveries dight; 
While the ploughman near at hand 
Whistles o'er the furrow'd land. 
And the milkmaid singeth blithe. 
And the mower whets his scythe, 




W' 



JN, 



And every shepherd tells his tale, 
Under the hawthorn in the dale. 




Straight mine eye hath caught new pleasures, 
Whilst the landscape round it measures; 



Russet lawns, and fallows gray, 
Where the nibbling flocks do stray: 




Mountains, on whose barren breast 
The laboring clouds do often rest; 



Meadows trim with daisies pied; 
Shallow brooks, and rivers wide : 
Towers and battlements it sees 
Bosom'd high in tufted trees, 
Where perhaps some beauty lies, 
The Cynosure of neighboring eyes. 



Hard b}^ a cottage chimney smokes, 
From betwixt two aged oaks. 
Where Corydon and Thyrsis met 
Are at their savory dinner set 



.>4- 1^'. 




Of herbs, and other country messes, 
Which the neat-handed Phyllis dresses; 




And then in haste her bower she leaves, 
With Thestylis to bind the sheaves; 



Or, if the earlier season lead, 

To the tann'd haycock in the mead. 



Sometimes, with secure delight, 
The upland hamlets will invite, 
"When the merry bells ring round, 
And the jocund rebecks sound 
To many a youth and many a maid. 
Dancing in the chequer'd shade, 
And young and old come forth to play 
On a sunshine holiday. 





Till the livelong daylight fail; 
Then to the spicy nut-brown ale, 



With stories told of many a feat, 
How Fairy Mab the junkets eat; 




She was pinch'd and pull'd, she said, 
And he by friar's lantern led; 



Tells how the drudging Goblin sweat 



To earn his cream-bowl duly set, 




When in one night, ere glimpse of morn. 
His shadowy flail had thresh'd the corn, 



That ten clay-laborers could not end, 
Then lays him down, the lubber fiend, 
And, stretch' d out all the chimney's length. 
Basks at the fire his hairy strength ; 
And cropfal out of doors he flings 
Ere the first cock his matin rings. 
Thus done the tales, to bed they creep. 
By whispering winds soon lull'd to sleep. 



<««ar^>-^>^ 





Tower'd cities please us then, 
And the busy hum of men, 



Where throngs of knights, and barons bold, 
In weeds of peace high triumphs hold, 




"With store of ladies, whose bright eyes 
Rain influence, and judge the prize 



Of wit or arms, while both contend 
To win her grace whom all commend. 
There let Hymen oft appear 
In saffron robe, with taper clear. 
And pomp, and feast, and revelry, 
With mask and antique pageantry. 
Such sights as youthful poets dreato 
On summer eves by haunted stream. 
Then to the well-trod stage anon. 
If Jonson's learned sock be on, 
Or sweetest Shakespeare, Fancy's child. 
Warble his native wood-notes wild. 



And ever, against eating cares, 
Lap me in soft Lyclian airs, 







Married to immortal verse, 

Sucli as the melting soul may pierce 



In notes, with many a winding bout 

Of linked sweetness long drawn out, 

With wanton heed, and giddy cunning, 

The melting voice through mazes running: 

Untwisting all the chains that tie 

The hidden soul of Harmony; 

That Orpheus' self may heave his head 

From golden slumber on a bed 

Of heap'd Elysian flowers, and hear 

Such strains as would have won the ear 

Of Pluto, to have quite set free 

His half-regain'd Eurydice. 



/> '■ / h'l 



These delights if thou canst give, 
Mirth, with thee I mean to live. 



.^T^ 




